


The Sprouting Madness

by gottemar



Category: Thief (Video Game 2014), Thief (Video Game Original Series), Thief (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Pagan Gods, mechanists
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:22:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23379049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gottemar/pseuds/gottemar
Summary: After Karras is defeated and life in the City returns to normal, our master thief does what he does best: stealing. But life as a criminal is never easy and soon not only the city watch is trying to get hold of Garrett...
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, this is my first fanfiction I ever wrote. I just started with a rough idea and I will see where this might lead me. English is not my mother tongue, so there will probably be many many mistakes and it´s not beta read. Feel free to comment.

Audale Historical Museum

The thief was here, somewhere down this poorly lit, narrow corridor and commanding officer Elyse Sewell, also holding the rank of Lieutenant of the Northern District City Watch, could sense his presence. The hair on her neck rose up and her palms were starting to sweat. She readjusted the grip on the hilt of her sword, pressing her shield tightly against her site.  
Off all members of the City Watch it would be her who succeeded in arresting and imprisoning the notorious master thief.  
The man so many guards, even famous Major Trevor Guinney, had tried and failed to capture! And now this thief, this myth, was right in front of her, cornered in a dead end of one of the long halls of Audale Historical Museum and she wouldn´t give him a chance to escape this time.  
***********************************************************************

The hint came from one of the engineers, who worked on the new security system for the Historical Museum in Audale. In the early morning hours he stumbled into the small watch station near Audale market place and started to stammer something about one of the gargoyles on the roof coming to life, climbing down the wooden scaffolding surrounding the new west wing of museum currently under construction. The watchman in charge, Constable Prime, had nearly kicked him out, thinking the poor man had drunken too much, until he started to describe in detail what he believed he had seen.  
The engineer worked on one of those creepy mechanical heads the Mechanists had constructed to keep watch on the museum at night. Somehow, it had an error and kept giving alarm. When he left the museum after fixing the problem through a backdoor, he glimpsed something moving on the roof above him. He swore that some pagan magic must have taken procession of the stone creature. He described how the gargoyle shot an arrow in one of the wooden beams, climbing down the rope hanging from the shaft, trying to open one of the large lead windows. When the moon broke through the clouds illuminating the scene, he saw the eyes of the being that shone green, like emeralds. 

The city guard, although tired of his night shift, added two and two together. Of course, he knew, like every guard, the stories of the thief with the green eye, prowling the streets of the city by night. Wanted posters of the master thief adorned the walls of each guard station from Audale to the docks.  
And of course he knew that Major Trevor Guinney had made it his life's work to catch the thief. The thief had escaped the City Guard for too many years, even breaking out of Cragscleft prison. With each break-in and theft, the pressure exerted by the nobles on the Major to catch the thief increased, and with each break-in the hatred of the Major for the thief grew. Whenever he talked about what he would do, when the thief was finally caught, he fell into a kind of frenzy, describing the most horrible ways of torture. 

As Constable Prime was in no position to make reports to the Major, highest rank in the City Watch, he went to Lieutenant Sewell. She had been his sergeant when he was on duty for the Northern District Department and she had been strict, fair and always competent. After a very short time she was promoted to lieutenant and it was only a matter of time before she became captain. It was said that the major personally recommended her as captain.  
The Lieutenant had doubts about the reliability of the engineer’s testimony, but she didn´t want the chance to catch the master thief pass up.  
They decided not to inform the Major yet, because his anger about incorrect information on the master thief would be too great. Instead, the lieutenant had monitored the museum with some men over the past few nights and had personally patrolled through the corridors. 

The nights were long and boring and nothing had happened. Until he showed up…  
***********************************************************************

A single torch lit up the end of the corridor, filled which innumerable display cases with porcelain vases and ancient pottery. Something buzzed through the air, glass shattered and something splashed. The torch went out with a pitiful hiss. As she looked towards the torch in surprise for just a second, a figure emerged from the shadows right in front of her. A bright flash of white and blue lit up the scenery and Captain Sewell, disorientated, yanked up her shield.  
The man in front of her sprinted forward, using one of the lower display cases as leverage and jumped at her shield, feet first. She went down by his weight cursing loudly when her head hit the wooden paneling of the wall. Never take of your helmet while on duty! 

The thief jumped back on his feet, immediately running down the corridor in the same direction he came from.  
“Stop, thief!” she shouted. Of course he didn´t stop. Had any thief ever stopped because of watchman asking him to? Probably not.  
Lieutenant Sewell chased after him, watching as the thief grabbed an old stool and smashed the window at the end of the corridor. The thief jumped through the shattered glass with ease, landing on the wooden construction surrounding the museum. Lieutenant Sewell let go of her shield, which only hindered her, pushed back the sword in the scabbard and climbed after him, cursing loudly.  
He was fast, sliding down the ladders and jumping the last few feet to the ground. But as one of the few women in the higher ranks of the city guard, Elyse Sewell had quickly learned that she could compensate for lack of physical strength with skill and speed. She kept on his heels while he ran across the lawn to the sheds and warehouses at the end of the museum site. 

Elyse managed to grab the thief by the quiver and yanked him back. As he whirled around, she kicked him in the stomach. He gasped, but didn't go to the ground. Instead, he drew his dagger in a swift motion and made a half harted attempt to swing it at her. She backed away and the thief started running again.

Her boots slid on the wet grass and the thief increased his lead on her. He circled the corner of a shed, knocking over a stack of empty boxes and barrels on his way. Elyse stumbled but avoided them and rounded the corner of the shed. 

He was there, right in front of her, sunken to one knee with his bow taut. The arrowhead was shining in the pale moonlight. She could not see his face in the shadows beneath his hood, just a slight gleam of green where his eye must be.  
She bit her lips and closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable: the whir of the arrow and the soft sound of the string of his bow. With a hollow thud the arrow bored into the crate behind her, pinning the fabric of her blue uniform effectively against the splintered wood.  
Had he missed her? No, a man like him would never miss a target. He had spared her. 

Hastily she tried to pull free of the coat pinned to the crate, but her hands were shaking. When she finally was free and had grabbed her sword wheeling around, the thief was long gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here is the next chapter and a quick drawing of Garrett I did when I ran out of ideas for my writing.  
> Comments are welcome.

Garrett was in a bad mood.

His ribs ached and when he had jumped through the window at Audale Museum he had cut himself on the broken glass. But most hurt was his ego.

  
Cursing, Garrett wiped clotted blood from his forehead. He was sitting on a makeshift bed in a small room above a warehouse in the docks that he had rented for emergencies. After the failed break-in into the Audale Museum, he hadn't dared to go back to his own apartment, not with the City Watch so close on his heels.

  
Something was wrong and not just since the break-in in Audale. Of course, when the Watch discovered him during a break-in, they would try to put him in jail. This alone would not be a cause for concern for the master thief. He had always been a wanted man. However, they had waited for him in Audale Museum and tried to arrest and lock him away. They had expected him to show up. It had been a bloody trap.  
In addition, they had not been the first to try to capture him. There had been an incident with the Downwinders, the thieves’ guild, only a few weeks ago. While the City Watch had always tried to capture him, the Downwinders had previously longed to get him on their side and after that failed they decided to eliminate him. Nevertheless, they had put little effort in trying to kill him lately, probably because the Watch had become a real threat to them with new Major Guinney and Lieutenant Sewell as his right hand. So most of the time the Downwinders had left him alone and he nearly forgot about them.

  
But then, one evening, they´d come for him.  
************************************************************************************************  
With a small smile, Garrett slid out of Blackmarket Bertha's shop in Stonemarket. “Come back whenever you find some new trinkets, love! I´m always here.“, Bertha called after him. Garrett was well aware that Bertha was flirting with him.   
She might be about ten years older than him and she wasn't necessarily the prettiest woman Garrett knew. But her voice was soft and smoky, she smelled of spicy tobacco and the prices she paid him were always fair. Furthermore, she was an honest woman and he liked her dry humor. So sometimes Garrett gave in on her flirting. Just a little bit.

  
Garrett crossed the wide space in front of the hammerite cathedrale, leaving Bertha, probably dreaming of them spending some time together in her storeroom, behind. He quickly slipped in the narrow alley between two townhouses to avoid being seen by the watchmen patrolling in Stonemarket. Sherrif Truart had greatly increased the number of watch officers while decreasing the number of criminals by hiring them directly into the watch. With Truart dead, the new head of the City Watch, Major Guinney brought the guard back on track. Less brutal thugs and more efficient guardians of the law! Although efficient guardians of the law weren´t the thief´s preferred company, he had to admit he appreciated the guard's brutality and cruelty was largely a thing of the past.

  
Just as he was about to leave the shelter of the shadows between the houses he sensed something behind him. Somebody followed him. A man entered the alley behind him, trying to dampen his steps and make no noise. He was good, but not good enough to avoid Garrett's attention. Years of training with the Keepers had sharpened his senses.

Garrett didn't turn nor did he slow his pace. A second man would appear at the other end of the alley to cut him off. That's how it always went. Hidden under his coat, the thief pulled out his dagger and a flashbomb.   
And just as he had expected, a burly thug turned the corner right in front of him blocking his exit. What he hadn´t expected was a door to open in his back and a third man jumping at him and wrapping his arms around him from behind. He stank of sweat and alcohol and with his strong grip, he pinned Garrett´s arms to his side. “Hurry boys, he writhes like a fish!“ he cried as the two others came running, bringing ropes to bind the thief.   
Garrett recognized Sutter, a member of the Downwinders, who was approaching him with his knife drawn. If he remembered correctly, he'd also seen the fat man in the Overlord's Fancy before. So both members of the thieves´guild! He had had a feud with the Downwinders for a long time, but why didn't they just kill him? Why did they try to capture him? Did they want to try their luck again to recruit him for the guild? As the fat man clutched him so tightly that Garrett feared he would break his ribs, Garrett decided not to wait until the thieves explained.

  
“You are lucky, Garrett, that these damned flower children are paying so much to get their hands on you alive, otherwise I would stab you here and now.” Sutter spat. Garrett decided not to wait to find out what exactly Sutter meant and instead let go of the flashbomb he was still holding. Sutter seemed to have expected something similar, because he just brought up his arm in front of his eyes so as not to be blinded. At least, the fat man stumbled back, startled, and the man still clutching Garrett loosened his grip. Garrett threw himself backwards and, with a sense of satisfaction, heard the crack as he hit his opponent's nose with the back of his head. He let go of Garrett with a loud curse. Garrett used his regained freedom to attack Sutter, one hand going to his opponent´s face and eyes, his dagger blocking Sutter´s knife.   
When Garrett´s thumb hit him in the eye, Sutty went down and screamed in pain. Garrett pushed him aside and ran, leaving the streets of Stonemarket behind and he only stopped when his lungs burned and he couldn´t breathe.

Damn, that was close. Since when did the Downwinders take orders for kidnappings? And who had given them the job? Flower children? Maybe Sutter meant the Pagans. But since his common struggle with Victoria against Karras, most of the Pagans were no longer hostile to him. Dyan, high priestess of the Pagans and one of Viktoria´s closest confidants hat spread word of the role the thief had played in destroying the Mechanists and how he had helped Viktoria in the Mechanist cathedral. Why would they want to capture him?  
Whoever it was, he would jave to be careful. Even more careful than he already was. Moreover, he would have to start investigating if he wanted to find out who was chasing him.   
And he just couldn´t stand being chased!  
********************************************************************************  
Garrett decided to start his research with Perry.  
It had been Perry who gave Garrett the contract for the museum heist. Perry had been Garrett´s fence for several years now. Most of the time he only bought "goods" that brought him from his nightly forays, whenever Garrett found the opportunity to steal something. But every now and then Perry had jobs for Garrett. Well payed jobs. Perry boasted of being the fence of the best thief in town, and so it happened that clients approached him to pass on orders to Garrett. The museum heist had been one of these jobs.  
He was supposed to steal a clay jug painted with pagan symbols, some kind of relic, from the museum. Garrett didn´t know much about the client himself. According to Perry, the client assured him the museums security system, especially the mechanic cameras, were out of work and the best opportunity to break in would be now. 

Perry was just coming out of his backroom store, arms loaded with crates and boxes. He nearly dropped them when seeing Garrett. He put down his stuff and gulped visibly.   
"Man, glad to see you, Garrett! All whole and healthy. That job in the Audale museum..."Perry did not finish his sentence.  
"Yes that job, Perry!"  
Perry seemed to shrink at Garrett's gaze. “Didn´t go too well, now, did it?” he mumbled.  
“No, not too well”  
Perry was starting to sweat now. “Surely, you won´t blame me for this, Garrett, huh? How could I have known the watch would be there? Don´t you know, I would never betray you, Garrett, no…. you can always rely on old Perry!”  
“Then I can probably rely on you telling me everything you know about that client of yours.”  
“Ah, sure..sure, Buddy. Well lemme think…. Ah yes, the client. Said his name was..hmm…. Ivo? No! Clover, I think. Yes, Clover. Came in one early evening. At first, I thought maybe he wanted to buy something but then he started a conversation with me. A bit awkward. Obviously, wasn´t used to deal with, well, my kind of business. But then he came out with his request: getting the clay jug from the Audale museum. He could give the exact location of the piece in the museum and details to their security system. Said, he would never try it himself, stealing, I mean, but he´d be in desperate need of the jug. Something about the trinket belonging to his ancestors and their pagan gods, not to a museum. I named him my price and he agreed. Paid half in advance. I don't know where he got the money from. He didn't really look like money. However, who am I to judge.  
„So, not a noble?“ Garrett asked.  
„No, definitely not! He was Pagan, as I said. “  
“You didn´t say so!”  
“Oh, well…. Whatever, he was Pagan. I´m sure of that. With a name like Clover! In addition, he was dressed like a Pagan. Now, that I think of it, he even told me, jug is of great cultural value for his tribe.”  
“So, a Pagan. Did he ask you to pass on this job to me?”  
“No not directly. Didn´t mention your name. He told me, the museum would still be guarded and he wanted my best man to do the job, though. Said he couldn't risk that some amateur would screw up the job and the jug would be out of reach afterwards. Or that this priceless pitcher would break during the job. Therefore, of course, you were the one to do this heist. You are my best thief.”  
Garrett decided to ignore Perry calling him "my thief" and instead asked: „Anything else? Did he tell you how to contact him?”  
“No. He´d come by in a few days, to pick up his clay jug and hand over the rest of the money. I don´t have anything else, Garrett. No written contract with name and address. We´re thieves, after all!  
“You are no thief, Perry.” Garrett mumbled and left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still don´t know for sure where this story is leading to.   
> Again, probably many mistakes as English isn´t my native language.  
> If anybody is willing to beta read my texts I would be really, really grateful.  
> Comments are always welcome.

Ever since she had to report to Major Guinney the unsuccessful arrest of the master thief and her failure, Elyse Sewell had been irritable and moody. Guinney had paced the room, taking turns cursing her and the thief. She could forget about the promotion. In addition to her failing to capture the thief, he had even managed to steal an ancient artefact from the museum, some Pagan relic, that, according to the museum staff was quite valuable.

The current situation didn't exactly increase her mood.

„Please, don´t tell me you found another victim!“ Lieutenant Sewell sighed, while looking down at the small, unmoving form of a young woman in a plain dress, sprawled across the pavement behind Johnsons Pharmacy.

The last thing the Lieutenant needed was another death in a series of murders that the City Watch had so far been unsuccessful in solving. Three victims and no suspect at all.

“Well, no good news then. This seems to be our number four!” Sergeant Sheen answered. He was a quirky man with thin hair and a huge mustache. An old school city guard, loud and commanding, without tact or prudence.

He crouched down and Elyse did the same to take a closer look at the body.

The young woman lay face down in the gutter. A relatively small, red spot on the back of her dress indicated that she had been attacked from behind with a knife or dagger. However, this attack alone should not have been fatal.  
Elyse grabbed the dead woman's shoulders carefully and turned her over on her back. The woman's skin was white and cold as frost. Her lips were slightly bluish. A deep cut ran across her neck. Her throat had been cut.

“The body is almost bloodless, but there is hardly any blood to be seen in the gutter and on the street.“  
“As with the other three we found in the past few weeks: someone let her bleed out and somehow caught the blood. And have a look at this, Lieutenant…. ” Sergeant Sheen pointed to the hands and arms of the dead woman.  
Symbols were burned onto the inside of her hands and the underside of her arms. The branding was in stark contrast to the pallor of the skin. Elyse pulled a piece of parchment and charcoal from a leather pouch that she carried over her shoulder. She started to paint the signs.  
"Surely pagan symbols," Sergeant Sheen growled. "And here, see what we found in her mouth!" With pointed fingers, Sheen held up some greenish-brown leaves. Elyse carefully took them from him and gently pushed it between the parchment papers.

"What's wrong with these Pagans? Seems like they have been running wild since the mechanics left town. I was never very fond of these savages; you can hear many gruesome stories about their hocus-pocus. Now they seem to have find a linking in sacrificing humans to their unholy gods. "  
"It seems like that." murmured Elyse.

She turned back to the dead woman. "What do we know about her? Does anyone recognize her? Maybe she worked in the pharmacy?"

"No. The old pharmacist says he has never seen her before. He lives in the rooms above his sales area and always uses the back entrance after the shop closes. Came home late today, he was probably on a tour around the pubs, and that's when he found her. ”

"Did he touch anything? Changed something? "

"Negative, he says he only touched her briefly and that she was cold as ice. When he saw the cut in her throat, he knew she was dead and sent a messenger to us. "

Elyse nodded. "So we don't even know who she is?"

“Actually, we do. My corporal says he knows her. He´s new at the job, first day out in the streets. The boy is not made for this job. Became very pale and stumbled around. Probably hasn't seen many corpses up close.

"Where's your corporal?"

“Seamus is over there, in the entrance of that alley. I sent him away so he wouldn't vomit over the crime scene.”, Sheen laughed.

“In the past, only real men reported to the guard. Today, we hire boys who still cling to their mother's skirt. Not made to work on these streets.” Sheen snorted.

"And lieutenants weren't women in the past, that's what you want to say," Elyse thought to herself, but left the thought unspoken. She just shrugged.

************************************************************************

Garrett pressed himself flat on the edge of a roof and looked down at the two city guards who were just entering the alley below. He had chosen the thieves´ highway, the route over the roofs on the way back from Stonemarket and congratulated himself for this decision when he discovered the crowd of guards behind Johnsons Pharmacy.

He recognized one of the guards beneath him. It was Lieutenant Sewell, the woman who had chased him after breaking into Audale Museum. And whose life he had spared. No matter what folk said, Garrett wasn't a killer. He hated unnecessary violence and boasted that he didn't have to rely on it, but only on his ability as a thief. He had also heard that Lieutenant Sewell was a levelheaded and somehow meticulous person who did not like to resort to punishments such as hanging pickpockets or chopping of hands. Why get her out of the way if her replacement could be worse?

However, today the lieutenant looked tired, tired and worn out. That was exactly what the young guard facing her seemed to have noticed. He was stupid enough to speak his thoughts out loud. "You don't look good ... uh ... I mean you look exhausted, sir ... uh, ma'am."

Lieutenant Sewell frowned and eyed him warningly. The young man seemed to notice his mistake and fell silent.

"I had a hell of a week, okay? That cursed thief in the Audale Museum, if only I ...”

Garrett smiled. Yes, if only...

„Well, the past is the past. Let us concentrate on the present case. You knew the dead woman? "

"Well, yes, I ... I knew her. Hannah, her name was Hannah. She lived with her parents at a farm next to ours, outside the city gates. In the summer, I took the sheep to the pastures with her, I… I can't believe… she was such a lovely girl. ” His eyes glistened with moisture.

"Did you court her?" asked Elyse quietly. The corporal nodded slowly. "Well, yes, back in the days when we were neighbors. Before she left for the city. I really liked her, but I don't think she cared much about me. Later, she moved to the city to work here. We wrote each other a few times, but by the time I moved here we had lost sight of each other. ” He glanced down at the ground regretfully before continuing:

"Sergeant Sheen says, some Pagans did this to her. Why? Why would they kill her, after all, she was… ” he broke off and looked at Elyse uncertainly.

"What was she? Seamus, if you know something, you have to tell me. I don't judge your Hannah."

"Well….Hannah was one of them."

"You mean she was a Pagan?"

"At least I think so. She loved nature, spent most of her days outside. In addition, she knew everything about plants and herbs and where they´d grow and things like that. And once, at night, I watched her draw runes into the earth in her field in the moonlight. I think she had a shrine in honor of the Trickster in the stables, I saw her secretly bringing flower wreaths and fruit there. But, please, don't tell anyone, her parents ... "

„Being a Pagan is no crime, Seamus. Nothing to justify yourself for. ”Seamus nodded uncertainly.

"But if she was a Pagan, why did they kill her?" Seamus asked.

„That´s what we need to find out. Do you know if she still has relatives, maybe somewhere outside the city? "

"Oh, Builder, yes, her parents still live on the little farm. I have to tell them, don't I? Tell them, she is dead. "

"I can do it."

"No, Lieutenant, I ..." He sniffed. "I will do it. It may be easier for them if they hear the news from someone they know. "  
Elyse put a hand on his shoulder and nodded. "I will do everything it will take to capture her killer. Unfortunately, I can't do anything for your girl anymore, but we have to prevent this from happening again. "

"Is it true?", the corporal suddenly asked, obviously to change the subject. "Did you see the master thief? The men say you faced him in a fight. "

„Hmm.“

"And is he ... is he a ghost. A phantom? "

Up on the roof above them, the thief chuckled. Yes, he knew these stories. A few superstitious guards had spread the myth that the master thief was a restless ghost and therefore no officer of the law could ever catch him.

The lieutenant shook her head.  
"A phantom? Hardly, he cursed too loudly when I took a swing at him. No, that's just an ordinary thief. Well, maybe not ordinary, otherwise we would have caught him long ago. I still don't understand how he managed to steal this clay jug from the museum before we discovered him. I had posted my men everywhere.

Come on now, go back to the watch station and wait for further instructions. ”

The two city guards left the alley and a very worried master thief remained on the roof. No, he hadn't stolen the pagan jug. He hadn't even gotten into the hallway where the relic was supposed to be on display. And now some Pagan mass murder was running wild in the city? What was going on here?


End file.
